Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T08:14:56.833Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - Theory of Prioritarianism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2022

By
Matthew D. Adler
Edited by
Matthew D. Adler  and
Ole F. Norheim
Matthew D. Adler
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
Ole F. Norheim
Affiliation:
Universitetet i Bergen, Norway
Get access

Summary

This chapter provides theoretical foundations for the Prioritarianism in Practice volume, by clarifying the features of prioritarian social welfare functions (SWFs). A prioritarian SWF sums up individuals’ well-being numbers plugged into a strictly increasing and strictly increasing transformation function. Prioritarian SWFs, like the utilitarian SWF, fall within the “generalized-utilitarian” class of SWFs.Generalized-utilitarian SWFs are additive and, hence, especially tractable for purposes of policy analysis.The chapter reviews the axiomatic properties of generalized-utilitarian SWFs and, specifically, of prioritarian SWFs. Prioritarianism satisfies the Pigou-Dalton axiom (a pure, gap-diminishing transfer of well-being from a better-off to a worse-off person is an ethical improvement), while utilitarianism does not. Pigou-Dalton is the axiomatic expression of the fact that a prioritarian SWF gives extra weight (priority) to well-being changes affecting worse-off individuals. The chapter also discusses the informational requirements of prioritarian SWFs (as regards interpersonal well-being comparisons).It reviews the various methodologies for applying a prioritarian SWF under uncertainty. And it describes the two main subfamilies of prioritarian SWFs, namely Atkinson and Kolm-Pollak SWFs.

Keywords

prioritarianismutilitarianismsocial welfare function (SWF)Pigou-DaltonSeparabilityinterpersonal comparisons of well-beinggeneralized-utilitarian SWFsAtkinson SWFsKolm-Pollak SWFs
Type
Chapter
Information
Prioritarianism in Practice , pp. 37 - 127
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adler, M.D. (2009). “Future generations: A prioritarian view.” George Washington Law Review, 77: 1478–1520.Google Scholar
Adler, M.D. (2012). Well-Being and Fair Distribution: Beyond Cost-Benefit Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Adler, M.D. (2015). “Equity by the numbers: Measuring poverty, inequality, and injustice.” Alabama Law Review, 66: 551–607.Google Scholar
Adler, M.D. (2018). “Prioritarianism: Room for desert?” Utilitas, 30: 172–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adler, M.D. (2019). Measuring Social Welfare: An Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Adler, M.D., and Holtug, N. (2019). “Prioritarianism: A response to critics.” Politics, Philosophy & Economics, 18: 101–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adler, M.D., and Treich, N. (2015). “Prioritarianism and climate change.” Environmental and Resource Economics, 62: 279–308.Google Scholar
Arrhenius, G., Bykvist, K., Campbell, T., and Finneron-Burns, E., eds. (forthcoming). The Oxford Handbook of Population Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Atkinson, A.B. (1970). “On the measurement of inequality.” Journal of Economic Theory, 2: 244–263.Google Scholar
Blackorby, C., Bossert, W., and Donaldson, D. (2002). “Utilitarianism and the theory of justice.” In Arrow, K.J., Sen, A.K. and Suzumura, K., eds., Handbook of Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 1. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 543–596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackorby, C., Bossert, W., and Donaldson, D. (2005). Population Issues in Social Choice Theory, Welfare Economics, and Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Boadway, R., and Bruce, N. (1984). Welfare Economics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Bosmans, K. (2007). “Extreme inequality aversion without separability.” Economic Theory, 32: 589–594.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bossert, W., and Weymark, J.A. (2004). “Utility in social choice.” In Barberà, S., Hammond, P.J. and Seidl, C., eds., Handbook of Utility Theory, vol. 2 (Extensions). Boston: Kluwer Academic, pp. 1099–1177.Google Scholar
Brandt, R.B. (1979). A Theory of the Right and the Good. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Broome, J. (1991). Weighing Goods: Equality, Uncertainty, and Time. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Broome, J. (2015). “Equality versus priority: A useful distinction.” Economics and Philosophy, 31: 219–228.Google Scholar
Broome, J. (2016). “The well-being of future generations.” In Adler, M.D. and Fleurbaey, M., eds., The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 901–927.Google Scholar
Bykvist, K. (2016). “Preference-based views of well-being.” In Adler, M.D. and Fleurbaey, M., eds., The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 321–346.Google Scholar
Chakravarty, S.R. (2009). Inequality, Polarization and Poverty: Advances in Distributional Analysis. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Cowell, F.A. (2000). “Measurement of inequality.” In Atkinson, A.B. and Bourguignon, F., eds., Handbook of Income Distribution, vol. 1. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 87–166.Google Scholar
Cowell, F.A. (2016). “Inequality and poverty measures.” In Adler, M.D. and Fleurbaey, M., eds., The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 82–125.Google Scholar
d’Aspremont, C., and Gevers, L. (2002). “Social welfare functionals and interpersonal comparability.” In Arrow, K.J., Sen, A.K. and Suzumura, K., eds., Handbook of Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 1. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 459–541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eggleston, B., and Miller, D.E., eds. (2014). The Cambridge Companion to Utilitarianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ferreira, F.H.G., and Peragine, V. (2016). “Individual responsibility and equality of opportunity.” In Adler, M.D. and Fleurbaey, M., eds., The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 746–784.Google Scholar
Fletcher, G., ed. (2016). The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Well-Being. Milton Park: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fleurbaey, M. (2010). “Assessing risky social situations.” Journal of Political Economy, 118: 649–680.Google Scholar
Fleurbaey, M., and Voorhoeve, A. (2013). “Decide as you would with full information! An argument against ex ante Pareto.” In Eyal, N. et al., eds., Inequalities in Health: Concepts, Measures, and Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 113–128.Google Scholar
Gamlund, E., and Solberg, C.T., eds. (2019). Saving People from the Harm of Death. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gilboa, I. (2009). Theory of Decision under Uncertainty. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Greaves, H. (2017). “Population axiology.” Philosophy Compass, 12: e12442.Google Scholar
Griffin, J. (1986). Well-Being: Its Meaning, Measurement, and Moral Importance. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Hare, R.M. (1981). Moral Thinking: Its Levels, Methods, and Point. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Harsanyi, J.C. (1953). “Cardinal utility in welfare economics and in the theory of risk-taking.” Journal of Political Economy, 61: 434–435.Google Scholar
Harsanyi, J.C. (1955). “Cardinal welfare, individualistic ethics, and interpersonal comparisons of utility.” Journal of Political Economy, 63: 309–321.Google Scholar
Harsanyi, J.C. (1977). Rational Behavior and Bargaining Equilibrium in Games and Social Situations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Haybron, D.M. (2016). “Mental state approaches to well-being.” In Adler, M.D. and Fleurbaey, M., eds., The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 347–378.Google Scholar
Holtug, N. (2010). Persons, Interests, and Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Holtug, N. (2017). “Prioritarianism.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.232.Google Scholar
Hurka, T. (2016). “Objective goods.” In Adler, M.D. and Fleurbaey, M., eds., The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 379–402.Google Scholar
Johansson-Stenman, O. (2018). “Animal welfare and social decisions: Is it time to take Bentham seriously?” Ecological Economics, 145: 90–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joyce, J.M., and Gibbard, A. (1998). “Causal decision theory.” In Barberà, S., Hammond, P.J. and Seidl, C., eds., Handbook of Utility Theory, vol. 1 (Principles). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, pp. 627–666.Google Scholar
Knight, C. (2009). Luck Egalitarianism: Equality, Responsibility, and Justice. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Kolm, S. (1969). “The optimal production of social justice.” In Margolis, J. and Guitton, H., eds., Public Economics. London: Macmillan, pp. 145–200.Google Scholar
Lambert, P.J. (2001). The Distribution and Redistribution of Income, 3rd ed. Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Lippert-Rasmussen, K. (2016). Luck Egalitarianism. London: Bloomsbury Academic.Google Scholar
McKerlie, D. (1984). “Egalitarianism.” Dialogue, 23: 223–237.Google Scholar
Mongin, P., and d’Aspremont, C. (1998). “Utility theory and ethics.” In Barberà, S., Hammond, P.J., and Seidl, C., eds., Handbook of Utility Theory, vol. 1 (Principles). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, pp. 371–481.Google Scholar
Mongin, P., and Pivato, M. (2016). “Social evaluation under risk and uncertainty.” In Adler, M.D. and Fleurbaey, M., eds., The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 711–745.Google Scholar
Moreno-Ternero, J.D., and Roemer, J.E. (2008). “The veil of ignorance violates priority.” Economics and Philosophy, 24: 233–257.Google Scholar
Otsuka, M., and Voorhoeve, A. (2018). “Equality versus priority.” In Olsaretti, S., ed., The Oxford Handbook of Distributive Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 65–85.Google Scholar
Parfit, D. (2000). “Equality or priority?” In Clayton, M. and Williams, A., eds., The Ideal of Equality. Houndmills: Palgrave, pp. 81–125. Delivered as the Lindley Lecture at the University of Kansas in 1991.Google Scholar
Pollak, R. (1971). “Additive utility functions and linear Engel curves.” Review of Economic Studies, 38: 401–414.Google Scholar
Rawls, J. (1999). A Theory of Justice, rev. ed. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. First published in 1971.Google Scholar
Salanié, B. (2011). The Economics of Taxation, 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Scanlon, T.M. (1998). What We Owe to Each Other. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Sen, A. (1973). On Economic Inequality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sen, A., and Williams, B., eds. (1982). Utilitarianism and Beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Shorrocks, A.F. (1983). “Ranking income distributions.” Economica, 50: 3–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon, C.P., and Blume, L. (1994). Mathematics for Economists. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.Google Scholar
Singer, P. (2011). Practical Ethics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 3rd ed.Google Scholar
Smart, J.J.C., and Williams, B. (1973). Utilitarianism: For and Against. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sumner, L.W. (1996). Welfare, Happiness, and Ethics. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Temkin, L. (1983). Inequality. Ph.D. Thesis, Princeton University.Google Scholar
Tuomala, M. (2016). Optimal Redistributive Taxation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Weirich, P. (1983). “Utility tempered with equality.” Nous, 17: 423–439.Google Scholar
Weymark, J.A. (2016). “Social welfare functions.” In Adler, M.D. and Fleurbaey, M., eds., The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 126–159.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×